Written Answers Wednesday 24 January 2007

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the proposed relocation of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s Highland Showground from Ingliston to Norton Mains will be paid for and whether there will be any cost to Scottish taxpayers.

Des McNulty: : It is not possible to be definitive at this point about how the relocation of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s Showground from Ingliston to Norton Mains will be paid for and whether there will be any cost to Scottish taxpayers. Studies are currently underway, project managed by Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, to undertake detailed feasibility of proposals for the relocation. These studies are expected to provide a range of costs for the relocation and construction of the new Showground.

  Funding for the relocation will come from a number of sources which will include: BAA acquisition of that part of the existing Showground which they require for their expansion; BAA obligation to fund like for like relocation costs; potential development value of that part of the existing Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland’s land holdings not required by BAA.

Alcohol Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have sought support from the NHS for alcohol addiction in each year since 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally. However, information on the number of individuals treated by the NHS for alcohol dependency has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 40168 and 40169).

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take, within its responsibilities, to improve its monitoring of asylum seekers in order to provide assistance to victims of trafficking.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive does not routinely monitor the reasons for which people seek asylum. Officials in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office, who are responsible for handling asylum claims, have been issued with guidance on identifying and handling victims of human trafficking.

  The Scottish Executive currently supports a pilot project in Glasgow under the Violence Against Women Fund which aims to determine the need for support to trafficked women, as there is currently no specialist support service in Scotland. Funding for this project has been agreed for 2006-08.

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the protocol between it and the Home Office on asylum seeker children and whether the protocol will bring the treatment and protection of asylum seeker children in line with the provisions of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Robert Brown: We have made good progress in implementing the measures in the March 2006 Agreement referred to by the member. The joint inspection of local services for the children of asylum seekers – to assess the quality of those services – took place in the autumn. We are close to agreement on lead professional arrangements with Glasgow City Council and the Home Office.

  Support and protection of asylum seeker children is already in line with the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The act places duties on local authorities relative to the provision of services to safeguard and promote the welfare for all children in their area who are in need, except where disapplied by UK legislation. The measures being put in place through the March Agreement should ensure that the rights, needs and interests of children in asylum seeker families are given earlier and on-going consideration.

Cancer

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it or NHS Forth Valley will take to enhance the quality of breast cancer services available to people in the Stirling parliamentary constituency.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS Forth Valley is part of the West of Scotland Cancer Network. This network brings together all of the professions and disciplines involved in the care of patients with particular cancer types, including breast cancer, to help ensure that the best possible quality of care is provided equitably across the region.

  Breast cancer services in Forth Valley are provided from a dedicated oncology unit specifically designed to provide combined outpatient assessment, chemotherapy and follow-up services locally. This is considered to be a significant improvement from the previous two site arrangements in terms of quality of patient care received. It provides a centralised focus for specialist care ensuring adequate volume and critical mass of patients whilst enhancing the skills of practitioners and maximising resources.

  The oncology unit will be located at the new hospital site in Larbert from 2009.

Climate Change

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Stern report and the Executive’s stated commitment to tackling climate change, whether it will introduce a requirement for a climate change impact assessment to be undertaken in respect of major projects, such as the proposed Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and Aberdeen Airport extension, in order that planning decisions are informed by environmental considerations and current thinking on climate change.

Des McNulty: Where a major project falls to be determined under planning legislation, it is already a requirement that environmental considerations are taken into account. Planning applications must be determined in accordance with the relevant development plan – with environmental considerations factored into the preparation of that plan – unless material considerations indicate otherwise. Material considerations may include statements of Scottish Executive policy, such as that issued through the Scottish Planning Policies series which includes guidance on climate change.

  In addition, all new and replacement development plans are subject to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) legislation, including requirements concerning the consideration of effects on climatic factors. Further, under the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, the National Planning Framework and development plans will be subject to a duty to contribute to sustainable development.

  Under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 as amended, individual planning applications may also be subject to an environmental impact assessment on the likely significant environmental effects of that project, including climatic factors where appropriate.

  Trunk roads projects, such as the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, are already subject to comprehensive environmental impact assessments, including consideration of greenhouse gas emission predictions. New arrangements for major transport projects are currently under consideration in the Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill currently before parliament, which includes provision for the environmental impact assessment of proposed projects.

  In view of these measures we have no plans to introduce an additional climate change impact assessment for major projects. However, we are developing a "carbon balance sheet", as part of future reviews of the National Transport Strategy, which will present the impact of all Scottish transport policies and projects that are expected to have a significant impact on carbon, whether positive or negative.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists provided NHS services in each of the last 10 years, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is given in the table Number of Dentists Providing NHS GDS by Parliamentary Constituency a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41525).

Domestic Abuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many murders resulting from domestic violence there have been and how many people (a) were charged with, (b) pleaded guilty to charges of and (c) were convicted for domestic violence offences in each of the last 10 years.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information on homicides recorded by the police where the relationship between the victim and the main accused was partner or ex-partner is given in the following table.

  Victims of Homicide1 where the Relationship Between the Victim and Main Accused was Partner/Ex-Partner, 1996-97 to 2005-06

  

Year
Number


1996-97
13


1997-98
12


1998-99
17


1999-00
17


2000-01
24


2001-02
12


2002-03
13


2003-04
5


2004-05
14


2005-06
16



  Note: 1. Currently (as at 8 November) recorded as homicide.

  The available information on the number of perpetrators of crimes or offences of domestic abuse cleared up by the police who were referred to the Procurator Fiscal is given in table 13a of the statistical bulletin Domestic Abuse Recorded by the Police in Scotland, 2005-06 published by the Scottish Executive in September 2006, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40556). Information in relation to guilty pleas and convictions for offences arising from incidents of domestic abuse is not separately identifiable in the available statistics.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it takes to record and publish the number of methadone-related deaths.

George Lyon: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) publishes an annual paper on drug-related deaths in Scotland. The information presented in these papers, which includes data on deaths involving methadone, is compiled from death registrations and associated returns from procurators fiscal and forensic pathologists.

  The papers, which include background information on the methodology and definitions used, may be found at: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/drug-related-deaths/index.html.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many methadone-related deaths there were in each year from 1999 to 2006, broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-29476 on 15 November 2006 which gives data for 1999-2005. Data for 2006 will not be available until August 2007.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Education

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has provided guidance to local authority education departments on participation in crime prevention programmes that affect their local communities and, if so, whether it will publish such guidance.

Hugh Henry: Broad guidance is produced by the Scottish Executive Education Department and Learning and Teaching Scotland. Advice and guidance seeks to ensure that the curriculum secures breadth, balance, continuity and progression for all pupils. Responsibility for the management and delivery of the curriculum belongs to education authorities and head teachers, or in the case of independent schools, the boards of governors and head teachers.

  The Scottish Executive’s 4th National Priority in Education is "values and citizenship". Education for Citizenship is cross curricular and permeates through a number of curricular areas. In the 5-14 Environmental Studies National Guidelines, with "Social Subjects: Understanding People in Society" the key features; "social rules, rights and responsibilities" and "conflict and participation in decision-making in society" are particularly relevant and primary schools have used these to introduce aspects of citizenship into their work.

  Many secondary schools (around 70%) offer Modern Studies courses in S1 and S2 which offer substantial opportunities for teaching about citizenship. In upper secondary, from S3-S6, all pupils undertake Personal and Social Education (PSE) courses and many of these contain the strands of citizenship identified in the report.

  Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) work with schools to deliver safety information to young people through fire service and police visits. Police officers are regular visitors to schools for other interventions, either delivering inputs on personal safety, road safety and in some cases drugs awareness. The CSPs along with the ASB teams also produce materials for use in schools focussing on personal safety and awareness, accident prevention and driving skills, amongst others.

Energy

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations Scottish ministers have made to Scottish Gas following recent price rises and the announcement that the firm intends to levy a £5 fine on customers who pay late, in light of any impact of such actions on vulnerable and low-income families across Scotland.

Rhona Brankin: My predecessor, Malcolm Chisholm, met with representatives of the three main Scottish energy suppliers late last year to discuss rising prices and actions that they are taking to protect vulnerable customers. My officials are in regular dialogue with Scottish Gas and have been assured that vulnerable customers will be exempt from the £5 fine introduced for late payment of bills.

Health

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the healthy living programme.

Mr Andy Kerr: The healthy living campaign was evaluated as part of NHS Health Scotland’s 2004-2005 Communication Tracking Survey . The survey can be found at: http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/2646-RE045Final%202005.pdf .

Health

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have made use of the healthy living programme’s website and publications since the programme’s inception.

Mr Andy Kerr: Since January 2003 the healthyliving website has received 988,434 visits. Since January 2004 a total of 47,243 requests for information, through the website and helpline, have been fulfilled. These contain one or more of three packs of information covering healthy eating, physical activity and weight management, plus a range of additional inserts appropriate to the individual request.

Health

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are for extending the healthier Scotland campaign to further raise awareness of a range of healthy living issues for the well-being of Scotland and its communities.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Healthy Living campaigns are on-going and address the Scottish Executive’s priority health improvement topics. These are:

  Food and Diet;

  Physical Activity;

  Tobacco;

  Drugs;

  Alcohol;

  Sexual Health, and

  Mental Health.

  The campaigns are continually monitored and redeveloped to ensure Scotland’s people receive appropriate health improvement advice.

Health

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what costs to (a) the NHS and (b) the Scottish economy are attributable to obesity.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage healthier lifestyles and tackle obesity and, in particular, childhood obesity.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive is taking forward a wide range of activities which aim to encourage Scotland’s people to lead a healthier lifestyle and I refer the Member to the First Minister’s Health Improvement Annual Report Delivering a Healthy Scotland: Meeting the Challenge , published on 5 December 2006, for an overview of this work. The report can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/11/29141927/0 .

  In relation to the specific topic of childhood obesity, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30184 on 6 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Health

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of motor neurone disease there have been in each NHS board area since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of patients treated in Scottish hospitals with a main diagnosis of motor neurone disease in each financial year since 1999-2000 is shown in the following table:

  

1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


192
220
204
196
205
190
199



  Source: Scottish Morbidity Record SMR01 – in-patient/day case discharge summaries. Due to the small numbers of patients involved, a break down by NHS board of residence would risk compromising patient confidentiality.

Health

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each NHS board has spent on care for people with motor neurone disease since 1999 and, in particular, on the motor neurone care team service which operates with support from the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to increase spending to meet the needs of the motor neurone care team service, in light of the commitment by the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association to meet 50% of the costs.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association has had discussions with officials in the Health Department about developing a national Managed Clinical Network for Motor Neurone Disease. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is developing standards for neurological services, and that process offers an opportunity to consider issues relating to the way in which services are provided, and by whom.

Hospitals

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the initial cost of construction was and estimated total lifetime cost to the public purse is for (a) Hairmyres Hospital and (b) Wishaw Hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: The initial construction cost for Hairmyres Hospital was £68 million and for Wishaw Hospital it was £121 million. The following tables show the annual payments over the period of the respective contracts. The aggregate of these annual payments however cannot be directly compared to the construction costs as these payments include the provision of hard and soft FM services over the life of the contract.

  Had the hospitals been procured by a traditional procurement route additional annual costs would be incurred including capital charges and costs for the provision of hard and soft FM services.

  Hairmyres Hospital

  

Year
Amount
(£ Million)
Year
Amount
(£ Million)
Year
Amount
(£ Million)
Year
Amount
(£ Million)


2004-05
15.45
2011-12
19.31
2018-19
22.52
2025-26
24.98


2005-06
17.10
2012-13
19.78
2019-20
23.10
2026-27
25.48


2006-07
17.42
2013-14
20.15
2020-21
23.60
2027-28
26.84


2007-08
17.75
2014-15
20.78
2021-22
23.15
2028-29
27.38


2008-09
17.98
2015-16
21.12
2022-23
23.61
2029-30
28.07


2009-10
18.43
2016-17
21.58
2023-24
24.08
2030-31
28.49


2010-11
18.82
2017-18
22.10
2024-25
24.24
2031-32
6.15



  Wishaw Hospital

  

Year
Amount
(£ Million) 
Year
Amount
(£ Million)
Year
Amount
(£ Million)
Year
Amount
(£ Million)


2004-05
22.51
2011-12
25.34
2018-19
28.26
2025-26
31.52


2005-06
23.08
2012-13
25.74
2019-20
28.71
2026-27
32.02


2006-07
23.45
2013-14
26.15
2020-21
29.16
2027-28
32.52


2007-08
23.81
2014-15
26.56
2021-22
29.62
2028-29
33.03


2008-09
24.19
2015-16
26.97
2022-23
30.08
2029-30
33.55


2009-10
24.57
2016-17
27.40
2023-24
30.55
2030-31
34.07


2010-11
24.95
2017-18
27.83
2024-25
31.03
2031-32
5.77

Housing

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities are permitted to use the Supporting People grant for the provision of services which are not included in the list of prescribed housing support services in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002, such as the provision of support for garden maintenance.

Rhona Brankin: Local authorities are not permitted to use Supporting People grant for the provision of any services other than those prescribed by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (Housing Support Services) Regulations 2002 These services include the provision of advice and supervision without actually performing the service for the service user. Garden maintenance is not therefore an eligible service.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-11655 by Des McNulty on 11 January 2007 (Official Report c. 30992), why it does not believe that there was any breach of EC competition law in the Glasgow stock transfer in respect of the commercial properties referred to in European Parliament petition 0863/2005.

Des McNulty: In European Parliament petition 0863/2005, the complainant claims that Glasgow City Council should have put the sale of its commercial properties out to European Union-wide tendering. As far as the Scottish Executive is aware, the complaint does not allege any breach of competition law, but instead of European Community procurement law.

  Furthermore, EU procurement law does not require European-wide competitive tendering for the acquisition of existing buildings or the disposal of property. The acquisition of existing buildings and other structures is exempt from advertising under Regulation 6 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations, which give effect to EU procurement Directive 2004/18/EC.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it (a) received and (b) replied to the administrative inquiry from the European Commission regarding European Parliament petition 0863/2005 in respect of the commercial properties acquired by Glasgow Housing Association.

Des McNulty: A letter from the European Commission regarding the Glasgow housing stock transfer was received by the Scottish Executive on 1 August 2006. The reply was sent on 2 October 2006.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a copy of the administrative inquiry from the European Commission regarding European Parliament petition 0863/2005 in respect of the commercial properties acquired by Glasgow Housing Association.

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a copy of its reply and any other documents that it submitted to the European Commission relating to the administrative inquiry from the Commission regarding European Parliament petition 0863/2005 in respect of the commercial properties acquired by Glasgow Housing Association.

Des McNulty: Correspondence of this type between the European Commission and a member state is regarded as confidential.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it received the administrative inquiry directly from the European Commission regarding European Parliament petition 0863/2005 in respect of the commercial properties acquired by Glasgow Housing Association or whether this request was forwarded from another UK body and, if so, from which body.

Des McNulty: The European Commission sends all administrative inquiries to the United Kingdom Representation to the European Union.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of all correspondence it has had with the European Parliament in respect of Glasgow Housing Association, broken down by year and subject matter.

Des McNulty: According to our records, the Scottish Executive has not had any correspondence with the European Parliament regarding Glasgow Housing Association. The European Parliament has not contacted the Scottish Executive regarding petition number 0863/2005.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of all correspondence it has had with the UK Government in respect of Glasgow Housing Association, broken down by year and subject matter.

Des McNulty: This information is not held centrally. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list any examples of developers who have applied for, and received, the right to pay a commuted sum, calculated by the district value, in lieu of building an agreed percentage of affordable homes in a permitted housing development, broken down by local authority area.

Des McNulty: This information is not held centrally.

Infertility Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the outcome of its consultation, Review of Access Criteria for Infertility Services in Scotland, before dissolution.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive intends to publish the report of the Review of Access Criteria for Infertility Services in Scotland shortly. Additional work on recommendations arising from the review is underway and we will publish the findings of this in due course.

Infertility Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has costed the provision of equal and full fertility services for all those requiring them and, if so, whether it will publish the costings.

Lewis Macdonald: Work on estimating the costs of possible changes to the provision of infertility treatment arising from the recent Review of Access Criteria for Infertility Services in Scotland is underway and we will publish our findings in due course.

Infertility Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest waiting times are for infertility services in each NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Infertility Services

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has declined to meet representatives of the Infertility Network to discuss the review of infertility services and, if so, what its reasons were for this decision.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive met with representatives of Infertility Network UK in May 2006, and it was agreed there would be a follow-up meeting, a date for which has yet to be arranged.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with Her Majesty’s Government anent the setting up of a UK human trafficking centre.

Cathy Jamieson: The UK Human Trafficking Centre is based in Sheffield and was launched in October 2006. Officials at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency will work with the UK Human Trafficking Centre to ensure that intelligence is shared across the UK.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions have been secured in (a) sheriff courts and (b) the High Court in the last two years in relation to human trafficking offences and what range of sentences were given to those found guilty.

Cathy Jamieson: Trafficking for sexual exploitation was made a specific offence by section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003. Trafficking for any purpose was made a specific offence by Section 4 of the Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004. To date, there have been no convictions recorded under either of these offences in Scotland.

  People involved in trafficking are likely to have committed a number of offences, both at statute and in common law, including kidnap, false imprisonment, deception and immigration offences. However, it is not possible to separately identify convictions for those offences which relate to human trafficking activity.

Justice

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has anent the number of victims of human trafficking freed by police raids in the last two years.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

Licensing

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the National Licensing Forum last met and what issues were discussed.

George Lyon: The National Licensing Forum last met on 18 April 2006. It discussed a number of issues relating to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 including overprovision and the capacity of licensed premises and training. The Forum also agreed its next phase of work as drafting guidance for Licensing Boards. This task has now been completed

  I shall shortly be considering the future role of the forum as we move closer towards full implementation of the new Licensing legislation.

Licensing

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken by the National Licensing Forum in the last six months.

George Lyon: The National Licensing Forum has not met collectively in the last six months, but during this time its members have been involved in the development of policy, regulations, and draft guidance relating to the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. This has included direct engagement with Scottish Executive officials during the consultation period. In addition, members of the forum have been heavily involved in the development of training specifications for Licensing Board Members, Licensing Standards Officers, Personal Licence Holders, and staff serving alcohol.

  I shall shortly be considering the future role of the forum as we move closer towards full implementation of the new Licensing legislation.

Local Government

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers are proposing that renumeration for some leaders of local authorities, including Moray Council, will be lower than that proposed for chairs of joint boards, such as Grampian Valuation Board, that have smaller budgets and numbers of employees and, if so, what the justification is for these proposals.

Mr Tom McCabe: I accepted the recommendation by the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee that the salary of senior members of joint boards should be linked to that of the highest banded council represented on joint board. I recently consulted on that proposal and I am considering comments made, including those in relation to Moray Council’s position on the Grampian Valuation Board. I shall be making regulations to implement the new arrangements shortly.

Local Government Finance

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the recommendation made in A Fairer Way: Report by the Local Government Finance Review Committee that consideration should be given to introducing a discretionary power for local authorities to apply a tourism tax.

George Lyon: The Local Government Finance Review Committee was charged with looking at a range of options for the future of local taxation and the pros and cons of each. We are currently giving their findings full consideration before making any decisions on local taxation issues, and the Scottish Executive will respond in due course.

Local Government Finance

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of aggregate external finance allocated to each local authority is provided through specific grants.

Mr Tom McCabe: Subject to the approval of the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007 by the Scottish Parliament, the information requested for 2007-08 is shown in the following table.

  

Council
Specific Grants as a Percentage of 2007-08 Aggregate External Finance


Aberdeen City 
11.7%


Aberdeenshire
8.9%


Angus
9.1%


Argyll and Bute
8.8%


Clackmannanshire
9.1%


Dumfries and Galloway
9.3%


Dundee City 
10.6%


East Ayrshire
9.6%


East Dunbartonshire 
9.0%


East Lothian 
9.5%


East Renfrewshire 
8.0%


Edinburgh, City of
11.7%


Eilean Siar
6.1%


Falkirk 
9.3%


Fife 
9.6%


Glasgow City 
11.3%


Highland 
9.3%


Inverclyde
10.0%


Midlothian 
9.5%


Moray
9.2%


North Ayrshire
9.3%


North Lanarkshire 
9.7%


Orkney
5.8%


Perth and Kinross
9.1%


Renfrewshire
10.1%


Scottish Borders
9.7%


Shetland
5.3%


South Ayrshire
9.8%


South Lanarkshire 
9.3%


Stirling 
9.5%


West Dunbartonshire 
11.6%


West Lothian 
9.6%


Scotland 
9.9%

Local Government Finance

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the increase in aggregate external finance allocated to each local authority in 2007-08 will be provided through specific grants.

Mr Tom McCabe: Subject to the approval of the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007 by the Scottish Parliament, the information requested for 2007-08 is shown in the following table.

  

Council
Percentage IncreaseBetween 2006-07 and 2007-08


Aberdeen City 
29.3%


Aberdeenshire
20.5%


Angus
16.2%


Argyll and Bute
18.8%


Clackmannanshire
19.1%


Dumfries and Galloway
18.3%


Dundee City 
21.7%


East Ayrshire
19.6%


East Dunbartonshire 
20.0%


East Lothian 
17.1%


East Renfrewshire 
16.9%


Edinburgh, City of
21.4%


Eilean Siar
17.7%


Falkirk 
18.8%


Fife 
21.7%


Glasgow City 
21.1%


Highland 
19.9%


Inverclyde
19.0%


Midlothian 
18.8%


Moray
20.9%


North Ayrshire
17.5%


North Lanarkshire 
17.4%


Orkney
16.4%


Perth and Kinross
15.1%


Renfrewshire
17.6%


Scottish Borders
17.5%


Shetland
16.1%


South Ayrshire
16.5%


South Lanarkshire 
17.0%


Stirling 
19.9%


West Dunbartonshire 
21.6%


West Lothian 
18.9%


Scotland 
19.5%

Local Government Finance

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding per capita each local authority will receive in aggregate external finance in 2007-08.

Mr Tom McCabe: Subject to the approval of the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2007 by the Scottish Parliament, the information requested for 2007-08 is shown in the following table.

  

Council
Aggregate External Finance Per Capita (£)


Aberdeen City 
1,500


Aberdeenshire
1,532


Angus
1,670


Argyll and Bute
2,008


Clackmannanshire
1,607


Dumfries and Galloway
1,770


Dundee City 
1,854


East Ayrshire
1,692


East Dunbartonshire 
1,501


East Lothian 
1,547


East Renfrewshire 
1,610


Edinburgh, City of
1,438


Eilean Siar
3,803


Falkirk 
1,593


Fife 
1,586


Glasgow City 
2,046


Highland 
1,917


Inverclyde
1,856


Midlothian 
1,692


Moray
1,647


North Ayrshire
1,716


North Lanarkshire 
1,667


Orkney
3,118


Perth and Kinross
1,570


Renfrewshire
1,681


Scottish Borders
1,745


Shetland
3,768


South Ayrshire
1,580


South Lanarkshire 
1,595


Stirling 
1,679


West Dunbartonshire 
1,869


West Lothian 
1,570


Scotland 
1,711

Maternity Services

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which maternity units it has identified as being at risk of closure.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a matter for individual NHS boards. Significant proposed service changes must be submitted for approval by Scottish ministers.

Ministerial Visits

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what ministerial visits have been arranged, or are being planned, to (a) Banff and Buchan and (b) north-east Scotland between now and 3 May 2007.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held in this format. Ministerial diaries retain a record of engagements carried out. We cannot provide an accurate picture of forthcoming events, as planned or scheduled ministerial visits are subject to constant change, often at short notice, because of changing parliamentary commitments.

NHS Staff

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the total number of NHS staff who have worked in the (a) acute and (b) community sector in each year since 1997 shown in terms of (i) headcount and (ii) full-time equivalent.

Mr Andy Kerr: The way in which workforce data is collected means that it is not possible to differentiate between those who work in the acute and community sectors for all staff groups.

  This data is available for medical, dental and nursing staff. and is published on the Scottish Health Statistics website under Workforce Statistics, at: http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

  The following table 1 shows the breakdown and percentage of all nursing and midwifery staff across hospital and community sectors by whole-time equivalent (WTE). The following table 2 shows the similar breakdown by headcount.

  Table 1

  

At 30 September
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 
2002 
2003 
2004 
2005 


Whole-Time Equivalent


All nursing and midwifery staff
51,478.97
51,106.7
51,390.5
51,310.1
52,234.3
53,196.5
54,119.98
54,552.9
55,468.7


Hospital Specialties
44,893.53
44,399
44,485.2
44,210.3
44,791.5
45,263.8
45,779.39
46,026.9
46,739.1


Community Specialties
6,048.55
6,140.95
6,304.78
6,391.99
6,723.48
6,919.59
7,216.669
7,305.72
7,457.84


% in Hospital Specialties
87.20%
86.90%
86.50%
86.20%
86.70%
86.10%
84.60%
84.40%
84.30%



  Table 2

  

At 30 September
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 
2002 
2003 
2004 
2005 


Headcount


All nursing and midwifery staff
61,961
61,374
61,644
61,579
62,379
63,356
64,317
64,855
65,816


Hospital Specialties
53,558
52,816
52,750
52,355
52,748
53,092
53,479
53,752
54,447


Community Specialties
7,756
7,872
8,150
8,281
8,690
8,968
9,351
9,461
9,615


% in Hospital Specialties
86.40%
86.10%
85.60%
85.00%
84.60%
83.80%
83.10%
82.30%
82.70%



  The following table 3 below shows the whole-time equivalent (WTE), headcount and percentage breakdown of medical and dental staff split by hospital and community specialties, in each year from 1997.

  Table3: NHS Medical and Dental Staff; Hospital and Community Specialties by Year1

  

 
Whole-Time Equivalent at 30 September 


1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 
2002 
2003 
2004 
2005 


Hospital Specialties 
7,295.2 
7,363.9 
7,534.8 
7,577.7 
7,869.4 
8,428.6 
8,664.7 
8,924.3 
9,125.3 


Community Specialties
475.5 
467.2 
451.4 
453.9 
464.7 
502.3 
477.7 
500.1 
517.4 


% in Hospital Specialties
93.8%
94.0%
94.3%
94.3%
94.45
94.4%
94.8%
94.7%
94.6%


 
Headcount at 30 September 


1997 
1998 
1999 
2000 
2001 
2002 
2003 
2004 
2005 


Hospital Specialties 
8,228 
8,292 
8,494 
8,555 
8,870 
9,400 
9,575 
9,817 
9,991 


Community Specialties 
660 
659 
638 
639 
651 
723 
678 
699 
742 


% in Hospital Specialties
92.6%
92.6%
93.0%
93.0%
93.2%
92.8%
93.4%
93.4%
93.1%



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes staff working in Public Health Medicine.

  The Workforce web pages will be updated with data to 30 September 2006 at our next release on Tuesday 30 January at 9.30 am. Further information on the statistics, including information on how the data are collected and notes to aid interpretation, is given in the Background Notes document on the Workforce Statistics homepage at: http:// www.isdscotland.org/workforce.

NHS Staff

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have declared medical secretaries’ posts redundant in the last two years and have outsourced secretarial transcription services to specialist secretarial agencies and what the cost has been to each board of this outsourcing.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is a matter for the boards themselves and information is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any NHS employees are exempt from the pay agreements, structures or pay scales agreed as part of Agenda for Change and, if so, what roles these employees fill.

Mr Andy Kerr: All health board employees in Scotland are subject to Agenda for Change, with the exceptions of all grades of doctors, all grades of dentists and executives and senior managers.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-14953 by Mr Tom McCabe on 14 March 2005, whether it will list all Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and other public bodies now in existence.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information on Executive Agencies and public bodies formally classified as non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), is contained on the Public Bodies and Appointments website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies/

  Details of bodies not classified as Executive Agencies or NDPBs are not held centrally by the Executive.

Planning

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish draft statutory instruments following the review of householder permitted developments.

Des McNulty: We expect to consult on proposed changes to householder permitted development rights later in 2007.

Planning

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what projected funding is for planning aid at the end of this financial year, broken down into constituent parts.

Des McNulty: Planning Aid for Scotland is a charity independent of the Scottish Executive. In the financial year 2006-07, the projected funding for Planning Aid for Scotland will be up to £232,760 from the Scottish Executive. This is made up of the following funding streams:

  Core funding - £100,000 from the Scottish Executive Planning Division;

  Funding for a Volunteer Development Officer - £24,000 from the Planning Development Budget;

  Reach Out - £43,796 from the Race Equality, Integration and Community Support Fund,

  Planning for People - £57,487 from the Sustainable Action Fund,

  PAS also received £7,477 for their supporting work on the PAN on Community Engagement in seeking views from harder to reach communities of interest.

  The Executive is not aware of the projected funding expected by Planning Aid for Scotland from other sources.

Population

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of net migration into Scotland it estimates is required to offset any population loss resulting from current projections of a birth rate below the replacement level required to maintain a stable population figure.

George Lyon: The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) publish the population projections for Scotland. In addition to the principal projection, which uses assumptions considered to reflect current trends, GROS also publish a series of projections reflecting different scenarios which are available on the GROS website: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/popproj/index.html#2004-based .

  The principal projection, including net inflow of 4,000 per year, envisages a broadly stable population over the next 25 years. A variant assuming a long-term net inflow of 12,500 persons a year would result in a population of today’s size in 70 years but would result in a small population increase in the meantime.

Population

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its latest projections are for the population levels in Scotland in (a) 2021, (b) 2031, (c) 2041 and (d) 2051, broken down by age.

George Lyon: Information on Scotland’s projected future population for these years is available from the Government Actuary’s Department website through the following link: http://www.gad.gov.uk/Population/index.asp?y=2004&v=Principal&dataCountry=scotland&chkDataTable=yy_5y&subTable=Perform+search .

Prescription Charges

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29323 by Lewis Macdonald on 10 November 2006 in which the minister stated that he hoped to publish the review of NHS prescription charges and exemption arrangements before the end of the year, what the reason is for the delay and when the Executive now expects to publish the review.

Lewis Macdonald: We are carefully considering the results of our consultation on NHS prescription charges and exemption arrangements in Scotland. Changes to the current arrangements may have complex financial and social consequences. We intend to publish a report on the consultation together with our decisions on the way forward in the near future.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek to extend the remit of the Standards Commission for Scotland to cover the operation of prison visiting committees.

George Lyon: Parliament agreed to the remit of the Standards Commission for Scotland, as set out in the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000. That remit did not include the operation of, or the investigation of members of, prison visiting committees. However, the Scottish Executive has asked Professor Lorne Crerar to carry out an independent review of the regulation, inspection audit and complaints handling of public services in Scotland. It is likely that the Standards Commission and prison visiting committees will be considered within that independent review. Any consideration of changing existing remits would have to take account of the review’s findings.

Public Expenditure

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the (a) planned and (b) outturn expenditure was in respect of (i) total managed expenditure for Scotland and (ii) the housing component of the Communities budget, or previous equivalent, excluding the Supporting People budget, for each year from 1999-2000 to 2005-06 and what the planned and estimated outturn figures are for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table:

  

Year
Total Managed Expenditure
Housing


Budget 
(£ Million)
Outturn 
(£ Million)
Plans 
(£ Million)
Outturn 
(£ Million)


1999-2000
15,019
15,008
374
323


2000-01
16,540
16,166
421
349


2001-02
18,043
17,719
434
385


2002-03
20,614
20,246
508
462


2003-04
20,993
20,313
568
534


2004-05
22,177
21,989
650
669


2005-06
23,843
23,547
640
636


2006-07
26,114
n/a
652
n/a


2007-08
27,543
n/a
702
n/a



  Notes:

  1. Numbers for 1999-2000 to 2005-06 are those detailed in the Scottish Executive’s consolidated accounts.

  2. Total Managed Expenditure numbers include DEL, AME and Other Expenditure (e.g. Health income from National Insurance contributions).

  3. Housing Plans figures taken from the following published documents: Making It Work Together (for 1999-2000 figures), The Annual Expenditure Report: The Scottish Budget (for 2000-01 and 2001-02 figures), Draft Budget 2007-08 (for 2002-03 to 2007-08 figures).

Public Expenditure

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of its estimates in Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland (GERS), what total revenue has been raised from North Sea oil in each year since GERS was first published.

Mr Tom McCabe: Since Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland (GERS) was first published (for 1990-91), £45.6 billion pounds has been raised, cumulatively, in North Sea revenue by the UK Government. Over the same period the cumulative fiscal deficit excluding North Sea revenues was £105.7 billion.

Residential Care

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the average weekly cost per resident in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area of providing care home services in (i) local authority and (ii) private sector care homes in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30520 on 19 January 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Residential Care

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what total amount was spent in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area on local authority-run care homes in the last full year for which figures are available.

Lewis Macdonald: Figures detailing the amount spent on local authority-run care homes are not held centrally. The following table shows the total expenditure by each local authority on care homes for all client groups. This will include money paid to operators of private sector care homes as well as money spent on care homes run by local authorities.

  Gross1 and Net2 Expenditure by Local Authorities on Care Homes, 2005-06

  

 
Gross Expenditure1(£000)
  Net 
Expenditure2(£000)


Aberdeen City
66,556
46,992


Aberdeenshire
44,211
27,738


Angus
23,397
16,938


Argyll and Bute
20,150
15,836


Clackmannanshire
10,831
4,424


Dumfries and Galloway
23,344
13,219


Dundee City
31,000
24,656


East Ayrshire
18,732
13,991


East Dunbartonshire
9,032
6,789


East Lothian
13,371
12,024


East Renfrewshire
6,731
6,575


Edinburgh, City of
98,964
73,070


Eilean Siar
8,948
6,853


Falkirk
23,930
12,025


Fife
53,477
37,394


Glasgow City
45,932
40,359


Highland
53,141
36,190


Inverclyde
12,418
8,044


Midlothian
18,794
12,937


Moray
13,958
11,187


North Ayrshire
18,261
13,471


North Lanarkshire
53,336
37,388


Orkney Islands
4,859
4,080


Perth and Kinross
27,927
21,064


Renfrewshire
36,678
22,645


Scottish Borders
24,534
17,102


Shetland Islands
9,979
5,495


South Ayrshire
8,409
6,994


South Lanarkshire
40,470
32,061


Stirling
12,921
8,357


West Dunbartonshire
23,047
11,503


West Lothian
17,572
14,081


Scotland
874,910
621,482



  Source: Local Financial Return LFR3 2005-06.

  Notes:

  1. Gross expenditure includes the full cost of running local authority owned care homes and the full fees paid to private and voluntary care homes for local authority funded clients. It also includes free personal and nursing care payments for self funders.

  2. Local authorities receive income in the form of (i) client contributions toward care home fees and (ii) transfers from health boards. These are subtracted from the gross figure to produce the net figure.

Residential Care

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was paid (a) in total and (b) by each local authority to operators of private sector care homes in the last year for which figures are available.

Lewis Macdonald: Figures detailing payments by local authorities to operators of private sector care homes are not held centrally. I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30859 on 24 January 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Residential Care

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what average gross weekly fee per care home resident has been charged by each local authority for care and accommodation services, other than for personal and nursing care, in (a) 2005-06 and (b) the current financial year.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30520, on 19 January 2007, which shows the average gross weekly charge for local authority run care homes and for privately operated care homes as at 30 September 2005. More recent data is not currently available. The information requested can be found in the local authority column.

  These fee levels are inclusive of money for personal and nursing care as data excluding these charges is not available.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Executive Advertising

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent by the Executive and its agencies on advertising job vacancies in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: Since 2000 the total amount spent on recruitment advertising in the Scottish Executive and its agencies is detailed in the following table. Figures are not available for 1999.

  

Year
Total Amount Spent (£)


2000
863,701


2001
1,071,784


2002
1,279,605


2003
1,124,596


2004
1,064,463


2005
1,491.640


2006
841,357

Scottish Executive Advertising

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the value for money of its spending on recruitment advertising.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has a central contract for the supply of recruitment advertising services. To ensure good value for money the contract was let by competitive tender and the procurement process followed the general principles of European Union Procurement Directives following a restricted procedure.

  The value and performance of the contract are monitored at regular review meetings using monthly management information reports which show detailed information on the cost of recruitment advertising and the savings made under the contract. The contractor is currently working to increase the scope of the management information that they provide to enable even better analysis of spend – for example to provide information on the quality of candidates applying through each advertising source.

  The contractor is continually delivering ways of getting better value from spend on recruitment. Further value is added through regular recruitment market updates, seminars to the business on new ideas, ad hoc projects, and through sharing good ideas and best practice.

Scottish Executive Agencies

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all inspections and audits of its agencies and public bodies that have to be undertaken or commissioned by it or any of its agencies and how often each requires to be carried out.

Mr Tom McCabe: Monitoring and financial audit requirements are set out in the framework document for each Executive agency and sponsored public body. Copies of these documents are available from individual organisations or via their websites. Performance Monitoring requirements are set out in further detail in the corporate plans and/or business plans published by each agency or body following agreement by Scottish ministers. Scottish Executive agencies and sponsored bodies must comply with the financial reporting and audit requirements set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual  and the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

Scottish Executive Agencies

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all performance indicators that it requires its agencies to meet.

Mr Tom McCabe: Individual targets and performance indicators for Scottish Executive agencies are set out in the corporate plans and/or business plans published by each agency following agreement with Scottish ministers. Links to agency websites are provided on the Public Bodies and Appointments website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/introduction

Scottish Executive Contracts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review or terminate any existing contracts that its departments or agencies have with Scottish Gas following the company’s recent announcement that it intends to introduce £5 fines for customers who do not pay within 28 days.

Rhona Brankin: Scottish Gas hold the contract to manage the central heating programme and the Warm Deal on behalf of the Scottish Executive. I do not intend to review or terminate this contract in light of the company’s introduction of fines on customers who are late in paying bills. Scottish Gas has provided assurance that vulnerable customers will not be subject to these fines.

Scottish Executive Contracts

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money has been allocated by Scottish ministers to Scottish Gas or its parent company, British Gas, over the last seven years in connection with any projects or programmes initiated by Scottish ministers in which Scottish Gas is a partner.

Rhona Brankin: Between October 2006 and April 2008 Scottish ministers will have allocated £70 million to Scottish Gas to manage the central heating programme and Warm Deal and install central heating systems in 18,000 homes and Warm Deal measures in 8,000 properties.

Scottish Executive Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to reply to my letter dated 21 November 2006 regarding my constituent, Mr A Lyons of Mintlaw.

Ross Finnie: I am sorry for the delay in responding. My reply was sent on 17 January 2007.

Scottish Executive Departments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all performance indicators that it requires each of its departments to meet.

Mr Tom McCabe: The performance indicators that you refer to are the drivers and measures contained within the Partnership Agreement and ministerial commitments. These have been distilled down through the Executive Departments and are underpinned by Building a Better Scotland and Spending Review targets which departments all contribute to. Most of this activity is reflected within departmental business plans which are published.

  Details of a Building a Better Scotland (which includes the Spending Review 2004 targets) and the technical notes that accompany the targets can be found on the Executive’s websites:

  
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/09/19984/43685 
 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20323/47384.


  A final progress report on targets that were set in September 2002 as part of the 2002 Spending Review were published September 2006: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/06102312/0.

  The end of term report on the Partnership Agreement and ministerial commitments was published on the internet on 29 December 2006 under A Partnership for a Better Scotland – Delivering Our Commitments. A copy of this report can be found on the Executive’s website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/12/28151815/0.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the destruction of paper records.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive reviews and disposes of its records in accordance with the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. Although these acts have no legal force in Scotland, they have been applied by the Executive in reviewing and disposing of its records by agreement with the UK Cabinet Office, in the absence of modern Scottish public records legislation. Records are recommended for destruction in accordance with retention and disposal schedules and only when reviewing staff are satisfied that they contain no papers that are likely to be of continuing public interest. No Scottish Executive record is actually destroyed without the agreement of the National Archives of Scotland, whose staff work alongside Executive reviewing staff to ensure that proper procedures are followed.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its paper records are recorded on microfilm or microfiche or stored electronically prior to destruction.

Mr Tom McCabe: No, no reason has been identified for doing so. Files which are judged to be of continuing public interest are transferred to the National Archives of Scotland for permanent preservation once their immediate business use has expired (typically, 25 years after creation).

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether electronic data which it holds as a legal requirement, as a result of an administrative decision or for other reasons are held in hard copy format at a site secure from physical damage or destruction.

Mr Tom McCabe: No. It is, of course, Executive practice to store electronic backup offsite for the appropriate period.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the policies of the Scottish Office on the destruction of paperwork have been modified since the establishment of the Executive and, if so, when and why such changes were made and what the changes were.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive has not modified its policies on the retention and disposal of its paper records.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what categories of its records, correspondence or other paperwork are completely destroyed after (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years, (e) five years, (f) 10 years, (g) 25 years and (h) more than 25 years.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what categories of its electronic records are retained for (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years, (e) five years, (f) 10 years, (g) 25 years, (h) more than 25 years.

Mr Tom McCabe: Details of the Executive’s destruction and retention policy regarding its paper records, including categories of records, are contained in its records management manual published on the Scottish Executive website, available through the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/15152416/24168 .

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation covers the retention, destruction or erasure of (a) electronic and (b) paper data which are received or created by it or its agencies.

Mr Tom McCabe: The key requirement on the Executive and its agencies is public records legislation. Scottish Executive Agencies are therefore expected to manage their records in accordance with the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. Although these acts have no legal force in Scotland, they have been applied by the Executive and its Agencies in reviewing and disposing of records by agreement with the UK Cabinet Office, in the absence of modern Scottish public records legislation. Guidance on records retention and disposal issued under the authority of this body of legislation takes into account the requirements of the very large number of pieces of legislation governing the retention and destruction of all kinds of information.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what rules cover the retention of paper or electronic data which are held by its PFI or PPP contractors or those of its agencies.

Mr Tom McCabe: Scottish Executive agencies are expected to manage their records in accordance with the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967. PFI or PPP contractors are responsible for their own records management, and for ensuring that it conforms to any specific legislation which may apply to their business, or any requirements there may be in their contract.

Scottish Executive Records

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal sanctions cover the destruction of any paper or electronic data (a) by Executive staff, (b) when directed by ministers, (c) when undertaken by Executive agencies and (d) by PFI or PPP contractors earlier than the prescribed, advised or contracted periods for retention.

Mr Tom McCabe: The only legal sanction which might be applicable in this context is section 65 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, under which it is an offence to alter records (including destruction) to prevent disclosure. However, this only applies where the information is held by a Scottish public authority listed in schedule 1 of the act and a request for the information has already been made.

Social Inclusion

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is introducing in order to enhance capacity-building and self-sufficiency and improve social inclusion in communities in the Stirling parliamentary constituency.

Des McNulty: The Scottish Executive has no plans at present to introduce any new initiatives to enhance capacity building, self-sufficiency and social inclusion in Stirling. We already have in place a range of national programmes to tackle such issues, such as the Community Voices Programme, the National Standards for Community Engagement and the Community Regeneration Fund, which Stirling is already benefiting from. These are in addition to any local initiatives being undertaken by local agencies, which will be best placed to respond to local needs. In addition, Raploch Urban Regeneration Company is already delivering a comprehensive programme of community support and engagement to secure employment and training opportunities for local people as part of the regeneration of the area.

Warm Deal

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in Orkney have benefited from installations under the central heating programme since its inception.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is held by main postcode area. In the KW postcode area a total of 1,043 households in the private sector are now centrally heated as a result of the Central Heating Programme. In the public sector Orkney Island Council installed 119 central heating systems through the programme.

Warm Deal

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in Orkney have benefited from the provision of insulation under the Warm Deal scheme since its inception.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is held by main postcode area. In the KW postcode area a total of 1,364 households across all sector benefited from Warm Deal insulation measures provided through the managing agent. In the public sector Orkney Island Council insulated 237 households as part of the programme.

Warm Deal

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine parliamentary constituency have benefited from installations under the central heating programme since its inception.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is held by main postcode area. In the AB postcode area a total of 3,045 households in the private sector are now centrally heated as a result of the central heating programme.

Warm Deal

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households in the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine parliamentary constituency have benefited from the provision of insulation under the Warm Deal scheme since its inception.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is held by main postcode area. In the AB postcode area a total of 6,657 households across all sector benefited from Warm Deal insulation measures provided through the Managing Agent. In the public sector Aberdeenshire Council insulated 4,684 households as part of the programme.

Young Offenders

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to establish prison visiting committees for young offenders’ institutions.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  A recruitment campaign for Young Offender Institution Visiting Committees was run in the national press during October. A number of applications were received and a selection process was run during November/December.

  The Minister of Justice has ratified the appointment of the successful candidates.

  Letters confirming appointments have now been sent to the VC members.

Youth Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many first-time entrants there were to the youth justice system in the year ended (a) 31 March 2004, (b) 31 March 2005 and (c) 31 March 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on the numbers of children referred to the Children’s Reporter on offence grounds is available in the Scottish Youth Justice Performance Report 2003-04 to 2005-06 which was published in July 2006 a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40065).

  The Scottish Youth Justice Performance Report 2003-04 to 2005-06 also contains information on children identified as new and requalifying persistent young offenders between 2003-04 and 2005-06. Information on children referred to the Children’s Reporter for the first time on offence grounds in the above periods is not collated centrally.